Crime in the county soared over the last 12 months as Staffordshire Police investigated thousands more offences than in the previous year.

Latest figures, released by the Office of National Statistics, show officers dealt with 8,383 extra crimes during 2017 – an 11 per cent increase on 2016.

The biggest increase of a particular offence was physical violence which went up by 22 per cent. Other notable rises included public order and shoplifting.

In response to the rise, which reflects the situation nationally, the county force is bringing in changes to its 'operating model' with chiefs aiming at improving responsiveness over increases and preventing crime.

Read More

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan says there will be a 'significant investment' in neighbourhood officers. He said: "It’s disappointing Staffordshire, like most other areas of the country, has seen an increase in recorded crime.

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan.

"We’re not complacent, and it is one of the reasons why I am implementing a new policing approach in the county that will see a significant investment in the number of neighbourhood police officers over the coming year.

Rise in Staffordshire crime part 1

Recorded crime in Staffordshire has risen by more than a tenth (11 per cent)in just a year, from 75,364 offences recorded by police in 2016 to83,747 in 2017.Among the types of crime seeing a big rise was violence against theperson, with a 22 per cent rise in 2017. In total, police recorded 29,333violent crimes in 2017, 3,555 more than in 2016.Within this, Staffordshire Police saw a four per cent rise in violent crimes thatcaused injury and a 15 per cent rise in violence without injury, as well as a29 per cent rise in cases of stalking and harassment.

"In particular, violent crime has seen a significant increase. The increase isn’t confined to offences that cause physical harm, however, but rather offenders using social channels to send messages intended to cause the victim distress or anxiety.

"This, together with an increase we’ve also seen in stalking offences, is central to us investing in training and technology, to speed up investigations and improve victim confidence.

Read More

"Reflecting the national knife crime picture, we are recording more offences. In Staffordshire, young males are carrying knives for self-defence or as a mark of gang membership or initiation, which is a culture that has become increasingly glamorised.

Police arrested the defendant after attending the scene

"To address this, we are looking at how we can more effectively target our ‘stop and search’ powers, based on good community intelligence, to deter and identify those individuals who are carrying knives."

Rise in Staffordshire crime part 2

The force has also seen reports of sexual offences soar in the pastyear, with a 22 per cent rise in reports between 2016 and 2017, with a totalof 3,374 sexual offences reported last year.Possession of weapons offences were down, with a 16 per cent fall in 2017,with a total of 609 crimes reported, with a rise also reported in thenumber of robberies, up by 39 per cent between 2016 and 2017, one of thebiggest rises in England and Wales.Theft offences were also up, by 10 per cent in 2017, with a four per cent rise inburglary also reported.As well as this, drug offences were falling, down five per cent in a year.

Police data also revealed the number of sexual offences, thefts and burglaries rose in 2017, while the force's effort to tackle drug crime has had some success with drug offences down five per cent from 2016.

Chief Constable Morgan added: "The changes we are making to our policing approach will ensure we have more officers based within neighbourhoods. These officers will focus much more on crime prevention and early intervention, freeing-up response officers to deal with the most urgent, emergency calls.

Read More

"These changes, we will be setting out in more detail in the coming weeks, are only part of the work needed to positively impact crime figures, however.

"Ongoing collaboration with councils and other agencies will ensure we are doing all we collectively can to support those who are most vulnerable, as well as those who cause the most crime within Staffordshire."

"The challenge for policing remains to balance tackling the most harmful and impactful crime whilst also dealing with the most local issues that plague some communities such as anti-social behaviour and low level drug use.

"The redesign of the way policing works here will help to achieve that and the £100m investment I've made available over the next few years will see continued improvement in the tools the police have for the difficult job they do.

"Recruitment is due to start on a very significant increase in police officer numbers. These will be deployed back to the heart of communities, which I believe will be welcomed."